2010 Volkswagen Passat: fire, smoke or burning smell

Filed Mar 14, 2026 · Electrical, Fuel system · FL

My 2010 Volkswagen CC became completely inoperable because of the active fuel pump control module recall (the federal safety agency 17V509). The vehicle stalled and nearly caused an accident. The check engine light came on just before I noticed a burning smell coming from the backseat of my car immediately after smelling that the car suddenly stalled out in the middle of a busy intersection and the engine would not start back up. I had to push it to a gas station parking lot across 3 lanes of traffic. I lifted up the backseat and found that the fuel control module was overheated and melting on top of the fuel pump so I carefully and properly disconnected it from the vehicle. The next day I had the vehicle towed to Lokey Volkswagen in Clearwater, FL. Today 3/14/2026 They did the recall repair and told me my vehicle is safe to drive. Today 3/14/2026 I drove the car 1 mile from the dealership when the exact same thing happened again the car stalled out, and I had to carefully maneuver to the shoulder of hwy us 19 s narrowly missing vehicles in the other lanes. The vehicle was then towed back to lokey Volkswagen. It is pretty clear that the issue was not resolved, and that this fuel control module failing may have affected other parts of the fuel system/wiring and or the fuel control module failed again. I have pictures of the fuel control module, and I gave the initial melted/failed fuel control module to the service department and they took it. The dealership service department is stating that this may be to do something other than the recall repair and that I may be liable for the diagnostic and towing charges. This is a very serious safety issue that almost cost me to get in accidents on the highway twice. I feel that they (Volkswagen) needs to be held responsible for rectification and to find out if there is a connection between this recall and the continuing failure of the vehicle to operate safely.

Filed Apr 30, 2020 · Fuel system · 129,000 miles · MA · fire

Tl* the contact owned a 2010 volkswagen passat. The contact stated when driving at approximately 25-30 MPH the engine stalled. The contact stated that the fire emitted from under the hood and within a moment the engine was on fire. The quincy fire department was present and was able to extinguish the fire. The contact stated that the fire department advised that the fire started in the fuel line. The vehicle was towed. The contact's insurance company destroyed the vehicle. The manufacturer was contacted and advised that the vehicle was not included in the federal safety agency campaign number: 17v509000 (fuel system, gasoline). The failure mileage was 129,000.

Filed Oct 29, 2016 · Electrical, Lights · 61,899 miles · FL

I have been having electrical issues with this car after owning it for 4 years. It started with the tail light bulb always burning out. I have had issues with the windows before and had it replaced. Last year I paid almost $2200 for window which won't roll down and the door which won't lock, water pump, oil leak and other minor issues. The keypad will lock 3 doors only and the lights won't come on when locked but when unlocked it'll come on. I have purchased 3 batteries thus far because the car constantly drains the battery. I've had this car stop in the middle of driving on major streets and almost got rear ended. My passenger right rear door does not lock and window does not work at all.I feel unsafe in this car because I am afraid that some electrical issue might cause my car to catch on fire. The tail light will work if I tap the outside cover to the light. I have gotten pulled over several times because of this and once I show the cop that if I tap it it'll come on, then they understand. At this present moment I can not open the driver side door from the outside and that will cost over $1000 to repair. I purchased my car in august 2009 and I have 62,043 miles on the vehicle. I do not mistreat the car but it's really not worth it and vw does not want to acknowledge that this is a poorly built vehicle. It feels as if this is was a trial an error model car. I am confident that if this car wasn't as old as it is now it would qualify for the lemon law. I am sure that I am not the only vw cc owner experiencing these headaches but if I am at least I am making it known of some of the issues I have encountered while being a first time and last time vw owner.

Filed Jul 11, 2016 · Engine, Transmission · 45 miles · MN

While driving home (approx 50 mile trip) I heard a loud screeching noise from the engine area. I was traveling on a highway at about 60mpg. I pulled over, turned off the car and saw smoke and smelled burning from under the hood. I opened the hood and smoke billowed out of the back of the engine bay. I looked under the car to see if it was leaking anything and found a large amount of what seemed to be oil dripping from the car. I then noticed a trail of oil from before I stopped the car. I left the car in place for a tow to not damage the vehicle anymore than it already was. It was towed to the vw dealership in town where they diagnosed the problem is that the pcv valve stopped working correctly, which caused the rear main seal to fail and become completely destroyed. They said that the entire engine needs to be taken out to replace the seal and is going to cost $1700. Vehicle did not have any indication of problems before the screeching noise and did not have any check engine light come on during the problem. Vehicle has just over 100,000 miles and vw of america denied to help out in anyway when contacting customer service. Another incident with exact same issue was found when I looked at open claims on the federal safety agency and many other claims are easily found with a simple google search. I have had all maintenance performed on time and at vw dealerships and was never advised to get the pcv replaced as normal maintenance.

Filed Mar 25, 2015 · Engine · 88,898 miles · CA

While traveling downhill, the engine increased to 400 rpms while traveling at 15-25 MPH. I then returned home. The engine light never came on; however, the d (drive) light began flashing, and I realized that the car was in limp mode. It was towed to the dealer, which had serviced the car every 10,000 miles, (and had actually replaced the turbo recirculation valve at 39,637 miles as a result of my concern that there was a burning smell while driving). Roseville volkswagen diagnosed the current problem as being the multi-clutch assembly, as well as a faulty intake manifold. The intake manifold is covered by a voluntary extended warranty; however, the multi-clutch assembly is not covered in 2010 sedans. It appears that volkswagen did extend the warranty on 2007-2009 models for the multi-clutch assembly; and it appears from several threads (vwvortex.com, forums.tdiclub.com, myturbodiesel.com, vweosclub.com) that the multi-clutch assembly continues to be a problem in 2010 models. Volkswagen of america is taking no responsibility to extend my warranty, which expired at 85,000 miles. I am concerned because the check engine light never appeared, and this could have happened while driving on a freeway, instead of on a street near home. Additionally, this problem may have begun approximately 20,000+ miles ago, as I again smelled a burning smell at that time, and was told by the dealer to ignore it, as it was probably a plastic bag that was burning on the engine. However, the smell lasted for several months, and I now realize from reading the threads that this was probably the beginning of the problem with the multi-clutch assembly.

Filed Jan 11, 2015 · Engine · 65,000 miles · CA

I have a 2010 volkswagen passat with almost 70,000 miles. I purchased the brand new car in august 2010. In september 2014 and november 2014 (thanksgiving day), an ignition coil failed while I was driving. In september, I was pulling out of a parking lot onto a business road when the ignition coil failed. In november, I was on the on-ramp for the interstate when the ignition coil failed. This was especially scary as the ramp was uphill and the car barely had enough power to make it up the ramp. Both times, the car began to shake, and seemed to lose power as it was unable to go into third gear, and had trouble making it up the smallest hill. The second time an ignition coil failed, the car also had a lot of smoke coming out the tailpipe. Both times I had to drive home and then to the dealership at 25 miles an hour in a shaky vehicle in order to have the ignition coil replaced.